


September First

by grumpyphoenix



Series: Brain Salad [18]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-01
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-07-05 11:49:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15863034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grumpyphoenix/pseuds/grumpyphoenix
Summary: Headmaster Potter has done something Dumbledore would be proud of.





	September First

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: September 1st.

Kreacher brought him his breakfast today, which only meant that The Prophet was just about as bad as it could be. He was the only house-elf here willing to make him angry or upset, and Harry appreciated it. Kreacher knew it, too, which made the relationship just perfect on every level. The overly elaborate breakfast tray just clinched the deal. Evisceration waited in those papers.

Chewing on a sausage, he surveys the carnage and is immediately nostalgic for those first few years of school. Skeeter is brutal, and there is a surfeit material to work from. He has to admit, Malfoy’s decision to take the open offer of Potions Master this year works out to his advantage. The front page is filled with pictures of the both of them fighting as children, and the picture of Lucius before being committed to Azkaban next to the candid photo someone took of Draco someplace in Diagon Alley. A really good picture of him, actually, standing in a wind, hair ruffled. Harry shakes himself out of it. The whole thing is awful, but he is grateful that they focused on that and didn’t sniff out the one thing Harry hoped they wouldn’t. Grateful that they drudged everything back up and tore into Draco. Ugh, he’s a horrible person. When he looks up from the paper, the picture of Dumbledore winks at him, as if he knows what Harry’s done and approves. Dammit.

Going downstairs to check on everything to make sure that Hogwarts is ready is an exercise in trying to keep a straight face. Every single first day of school makes him imagine that he’s swallowed a flock of bees, and today is worse. He feels as if his blood is bubbling.

“My appointment to Potions Master was supposed to be kept quiet, and yet I find myself all over the front page, Potter.” Malfoy murmurs behind him, so close that Harry feels a spike of heat along with his jolt of surprise. It makes him stammer and he curses inwardly. Great public image, Harry.

He plasters what he knows is an annoying grin all over his face. “We-ell, you know Skeeter. She was probably hiding someplace listening. And that’s Headmaster Potter to you, Malfoy.”

Draco walks around to face him. Harry has the distinct feeling of being stalked by a large cat. Pale eyes consider him seriously. “ _ Headmaster.  _ My congratulations on the admittance of your niece. How fortuitous that The Daily Prophet has yet to catch wind of her true lineage.” 

“Holly Dursley is not my niece, she’s my cousin.” He manages to look Draco in the eyes, though he wants, desperately, to be doing anything else right now. “Perhaps we should continue this discussion in my office, Professor?”

Draco toys with a smile for a moment. “Later, Headmaster. We both have much to do before the children arrive. With her pedigree, I can only imagine the havoc Miss Dursley will wreak in her time with us. One should be prepared.”

A relieved sigh escapes before Harry can monitor himself. “Hilarious. Fine, fine. After dinner, then.”

A house elf appears and hands Draco a book, which he glances at with an irritable scowl, and it changes his focus completely. Harry feels the loss keenly. With a dismissive nod to confirm that he’s heard the Headmaster, Draco starts off as if with a purpose. Harry watches him go and then stop as if something has occurred to him. The stride back towards him is filled with a glowering gaze that just does nothing for how uncomfortable he’s become in his clothing since the start of the conversation.

When he’s close enough for Harry to smell a dash of some kind of  _ really distracting cologne _ , Draco growls quietly, “I know it was you. The reason I know it was you is that if Miss Skeeter had been hiding someplace, the front page would be filled less with my father’s crimes, and more  _ interesting details _ about our last conversation.  _ Headmaster. _ ”

As Harry struggles to get his breathing under control, Draco smiles, satisfied. “That said, well done. Miss Dursley doesn’t need the attention that having a famous Uncle gets her. Life on the front page was hard. I know, I know, she’s your first cousin once removed. Believe me, I understand family trees. But that brute was your brother, like it or not.”

He walks backwards with a sadistic grin on his face. “That being said, I cannot wait to get her in my class.”

Harry watches his slim form disappear into the crowd with a disappointed feeling of relief.


End file.
